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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 3 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1885 | 2 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 1 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 1 |
| 1895 | 4 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1916 | 1 |
32 stories matching straightforward
- The Strange Confession of Henry Lattimore
After the murder of C. Grant in a Tacoma boarding house, a 19-year-old drifter with a 'straightforward' story was captured by rail workers and police.
- The Self-Made Mayor: Robert Moran’s Rise from Machinist to Seattle’s Leader
As Seattle prepares for a pivotal mayoral election, the press rallies behind Robert Moran, a self-made millionaire whose journey from working-class machinist to head of Moran Brothers is held up as the ultimate American success story.
- The Man Who Took the Bribe to Expose It
Representative Metcalfe’s daring sting operation against Senatorial corruption has turned him into a hero for reformers and a target for powerful enemies.
- The Battle Over the Memory of the Chinese Expulsion
A fiery rebuttal to external accounts of the 1886 anti-Chinese riots in Seattle.
- The Telegraph Messenger Who Walked Away
In the wake of a gruesome Portland murder, Seattle police arrest a young messenger boy while his accomplices flee. But one suspect vanishes before the law can catch him.
- A Tin Box of Gold Hidden in the Rafters
South Seattle police say the hammer that killed a mother and her baby belonged to Henry Cramer — and the money taken from the dead woman's house was stashed in his shed. Now the neighbours are talking about a rope.
- The Wife's Side of the Story
A woman arrested for adultery in Olympia tells a harrowing tale of abandonment, abuse, and survival in the Washington Territory.
- The Darkest Hour: Temperance Leader Declares Cause 'Dead' Amidst Political Corruption
At the State Temperance Alliance meeting in Seattle, Rev. Clark Davis delivers a scathing indictment of the liquor industry's grip on politics and religion, while Rep. De Steiguer rallies support for Watson Squire.
- The Courthouse Deal Done in the Dark
Benton County commissioners quietly sold $125,000 in bonds for a new courthouse. Farmers from Finley to Prosser cried foul over up to $40,000 in extra interest—and demanded to know why it had to be secret.
- Tacoma's 1909 Fight to Own Its Power
On the eve of a city election, advocates urged voters to approve a $2 million municipal light and power plant—and warned the private power trust would lie to stop them.
- Two Weeks In, Still No Senator: Olympia's Republicans Tire of the Ankeny Fight
The legislature has been in session a fortnight and Washington still has no United States senator. A colleague's insulting letter blows up, the Wilson and Allen camps fold, and a caucus is called to force the thing to an end.
- The Bridge Over Broken Trust
In 1878, a sharp dissent by a King County Commissioner reveals the classic political struggle over infrastructure spending and the limits of the public purse.
- An Insurance Scandal on the Seattle Waterfront
After his steamer burned to the waterline, a captain takes to the newspapers to publicly shame the insurance companies refusing to pay his claim.
- The Great Steamboat Swindle
A small-time owner was left high and dry after smooth-talking confidence men vanished with his launch to Victoria.
- A Variety Theatre, a Bundle of Testimonials, and the Preachers Who Wanted It Shut
Seattle's theatrical impresario John Considine fights for a Spokane theatre license against a gallery full of clergymen — and answers them with a who's-who of Seattle's leading names vouching for his honor.
- The Explorer Who Died Before His Guidebook Was Printed
Vasco Wilson survived Alaska's Grand Canyon and a Siberian voyage, but typhoid killed him in Seattle just as his Yukon mining guide went to press.
- The City Hall Bond Crisis of 1893
Facing a financial panic, Seattle's mayor proposes an experimental fix to keep public works moving and labor employed.
- The Insurance Company That Refused to Pay
After his steamboat, the Wildwood, burned at the dock in Olympia, Thomas Quail publicly denounced the insurance companies that refused to settle his claim.
- The Case for Naming an Olympia Street After Judge Hewitt
A memorial sermon for a territorial judge becomes a plea to carve his name into Olympia's street map—and a meditation on what makes a public life worth remembering.
- The Political Retirement of M. E. O'Connor
After years of fighting for the workingman, a Seattle figure walks away from political life to find peace in a new business venture.
- Tragedy in the Auditorium Elevator
A thirteen-year-old boy dies after a freak accident in a downtown elevator cage.
- Legal Battle Over Pullman College Construction
The Board of Regents of what would become Washington State University defended itself against allegations of bid rigging in a Superior Court case.
- The Art of the Sidewalk Gaze
A San Francisco man is fined $100 for whistling at women on a Tacoma street corner.
- The 'Vanity Fair' Lottery Scandal
When a Seattle game of chance faced accusations of fraud, the proprietor was forced to defend his honor in the pages of the local press.
- The Secret Elopement of Olympia
Defying parental orders and a bitter feud, a young couple flees their hometown to be married.
Also about this, in other words
- The Persistent Promise of Easy Money
A classic 19th-century 'work from home' pitch promises Snohomish laborers a fortune for minimal effort.
- The Smooth Stranger’s Trap: A Banker’s Warning Against the 'Get Rich Quick' Scam
In 1920s Kennewick, local banks warned citizens that 'smooth strangers' peddling investments were likely frauds, urging residents to keep their money in trusted institutions rather than chasing phantom profits.
- The Marriage of Convenience
A federal judge bypasses exclusion laws by upholding a traditional Chinese proxy marriage for an immigrant woman.
- A Senator’s Gift of Stone
Senator Watson C. Squire offers the city free rock from his Duwamish River quarries to help jumpstart local street paving efforts.
- The Lawyer, the Boy, and the Five-Cent Lesson
A shrewd Seattle attorney tests a boy’s integrity with a lesson in promissory notes and the value of a promise.
- A Woman Defies Her Husband’s Attempts at Institutionalization
A Colfax woman successfully defends her sanity after her husband attempts to have her committed to an asylum.
- The Unkindest Cut
A young boy's poignant question about inclusion and dignity sheds light on the treatment of people with disabilities in our community.
- The Snohomish Pulpit and the 'Spirit of Indifference'
A local sermon challenges the congregation to stop treating religion as mere entertainment and instead fight for their beliefs in an era of rapid scientific change.